PM has insisted the "best answer" for
the UK is to stay in a reformed European Union as he said he was hopeful of
securing a renegotiation deal next month.
The Prime Minister said the "prize" of an improved
membership package was "closer than it was", but indicated he was
ready to delay the in-out referendum until next year if an agreement could not
be finalized in February.
Mr Cameron also refused to be drawn on whether he would
impose restrictions on in-work benefits to young Britons in a bid to stop the
"almost unnatural draw" of the UK's welfare system for European
migrants.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, the PM said of his
attempt to negotiate a new relationship with Brussels: "It's hard work.
I am hopeful of a deal in February and if we do that
we can go ahead and hold the referendum.
My aim is clear. Best of both worlds for Britain.
The massive prize of sorting out what frustrates us
about Europe but staying in a reformed Europe."
To me the substance matters much more than
the timing so if I can't get the right deal in February I will wait and keep
going and keep plugging away because it is such an important issue for our
country.
I think the best answer for Britain is staying in a
reformed European Union if we can get those changes but as I have said before
if we don't get them I rule nothing out."
Asked whether the Government was preparing contingency plans
for the UK to leave the EU, Mr Cameron said: "I don't think that is the
right answer for the reasons I have given.
"Were that to be the answer we would need to do
everything necessary to make that work.
The civil service are working round the clock to support my
negotiation.
Mr Cameron said his proposal of a four-year ban on in-work
benefits for migrants, seen as one of the most difficult demands to secure, was
"still on the table", but he was open to any alternative that would
be "equally powerful".
Pressed if there could be a compromise where British
citizens were also subject to the restriction and then compensated with a
"social" payment, Mr Cameron said: "I am in the middle of a
negotiation.
"I have got hard work to do and when I have an
announcement to make I will make it."
The PM ruled out resigning if the country voted for the UK
to leave the EU.
Eurosceptic former defence secretary Liam Fox on Murnaghan programme: say's he think we need to get onto the issues of substance
in the referendum now and not constantly go on about process.
For me it's a point of principle.
I think that If you don't make your own laws and you
don't control your own borders you are not a sovereign nation, which is why I
want to leave the European Union."
Former shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden, who was sacked
in Jeremy Corbyn's recent reshuffle, said: "The Conservative Party is
split from top to bottom on Europe.
"I think there's both an obligation and responsibility
on the Labour Party in those circumstances."
He hoped the latest changes in Labour's frontbench team did
not lead to a "watering down" of the party's position, which was to
stay in the EU.
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